Subject: [sf-lug] controlling external electronics? for a little<br>
science project<br>
To: sf-lug <<a href="mailto:sf-lug@linuxmafia.com">sf-lug@linuxmafia.com</a>><br>
Message-ID: <1210734462.7367.22.camel@localhost><br>
Content-Type: text/plain<br>
<br>
hi folks,<br>
<br>
my 9-year-old has an idea for an invention..<br>
<br>
maybe she's not the first one to have invented it exactly, but i'd like<br>
to encourage her. she wants a reverse alarm clock, that does the<br>
following:<br>
-turn out her light at bed time<br>
- play from a selection of boring speeches after lights out, to lull her<br>
to sleep<br>
- wake her in the morning with a less boring speech.<br>
<br>
now, it strikes me that most of this could be done pretty easily with a<br>
simple python script on her xo-1. but to turn the light out she needs<br>
to open a circuit external to the computer. now i imagine even this is<br>
pretty easy to do; that there exist generic usb connected electronics<br>
kits, that let you perform arbitrary simple actions (like flipping a<br>
switch) with signals from the computer. but if this is so i have no<br>
idea how to do it. anyone know anything about this sort of thing?<br>
<br>
as usual i appreciate al the help...<br>
<br>
matt<br>
--<br>
Matt Price<br>
<a href="mailto:matt.price@utoronto.ca">matt.price@utoronto.ca</a></blockquote><div><br> </div><div> </div></div>Matt,<br><br>Smarthome.com has just what you need in an Insteon controller for the lights and an Insteon PC-USB interface box. Possibly not the cheapest, but definitely off the shelf. I haven't researched whether the USB interface includes Linux drivers, but their tech support [800-762-7846] is relatively knowledgable & exceptionally helpful and could be a source to answer your further questions. <br>
<br>-- <br>Sam Geffner<br><a href="mailto:sgeffner@gmail.com">sgeffner@gmail.com</a> <br>415-648-7744<br>415-793-3562 cel<br><br><br>"That which makes our task difficult is part of the task."